Hmm... RH Bill?

RH Bill
I am personally not aware of it not until my good friend stimulated my neurons. Thanks Geno! :D

RH stands for Reproductive Health. This is a House Bill primarily authored by Honorable Albay Representative Edcel Lagman.

I will not discuss information about the said Bill since it is open to the public.
You can read:
The Full text of RH Bill
The Fact Sheet and Explanatory Note

The said bill is scheduled for review by the House of Representatives. And it’s undeniably a controversy under tumultuous debate today. The Catholic Church is the leading body disputing the said bill.

It is undeniable today that our country is suffering to a countless problems, to name a few: poverty, overpopulation, inflation, unemployment and the “should-be primary concern” health-related problems. And the RH Bill plans to target some of these problems.

Artificial Contraceptives: a hot topic
As a graduate of a Catholic high school, I can say that I am living by the doctrine. And as a nurse, I am aware of the different health problems in the country. The Church and the health or medical field differs in some perspectives; one of these is the usage of artificial contraceptives.

I am moved by what Carlos Celdran did. He toured in the walled city. He visited the slum areas there and gave free birth pills and condoms in the misinformed women or couples. Click here to read more.

Before, artificial contraceptives were available to the people but due to the traditional “Pro-life” mindset, the free items were withdrawn from the health centers. I can still remember, the times that I had my clinical duty in regional health units. There were a lot of mothers going to the health center just to get their free birth pills pack and free dose of injectable pills. I was able to assess their knowledge about family planning, responsible parenthood, and a healthy sexual life. Though, I can say that they were pretty contented about the service, I observed their hunger for information. To give you an idea, most of them were just elementary graduates.

What is my point?
Most of the Filipino mothers and couples (a significant number are from the poor sector) don’t have proper information or resources to address their problem. And according to statistics, a great number are experiencing health-related problems such as pregnancy complications and socially-related problems such as overcrowding afterwards resulting to other problems.

Artificial contraceptives can help reduce number pregnancies and may also help make most of the pregnancies intended but we should not forget that proper education is a significant factor to address. And the Bill recognizes this.

The author wants to share…
My thesis in college entitled, “Breastfeeding and Pregnancy Intentions among Filipino Mothers in Selected Government Hospitals in Metro Manila” tackles about the relationship of the pregnancy intentions of Filipino mothers to their breastfeeding behavior. This is a replicated study from the United States and other countries. The results were similar to the findings abroad that as the pregnancy intention increases, the breastfeeding intention also increases – if the pregnancy is intended (or planned), good breastfeeding behavior may be observed; on the other hand, if the pregnancy is mistimed or unwanted (or unplanned), poor breastfeeding behavior may manifest.

What is my point?
Breastfeeding is a vital practice of mothers to their infant as we all know its benefits to the former and latter. But the problem now, since there is a significant number of unintended pregnancies in the Philippines, breastfeeding practice is slowly getting out of the scene. We can trace this phenomenon to the inadequate or lack of information of Filipino mothers and couples.

The solution...
The RH Bill authors recognize these problems and so the said bill will make proper education (responsible parenthood and healthy sexual life), breastfeeding practice, availability of artificial contraceptives will be possible and available to the public. I, personally think that the said Bill is one good step to help address our present problems.

It is true that we should think twice for every action we make and one factor that we should consider is that the majority should benefit from this. My opinion is that we should support this bill. I am just a one voice speaking, I hope each one of us pay attention to this for it could shape our country's future.

Pass the RH Bill into law immediately!